


Every Claim You Stake

by Zetal (Rodinia)



Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [16]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Azazel is Creepy, F/M, Home Invasion, Non-Consensual Hair Petting, Sexual Harassment, Visions of Canon Deaths
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-06
Updated: 2019-03-06
Packaged: 2019-11-12 19:22:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18016880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rodinia/pseuds/Zetal
Summary: The day started out so normal, except for Sam being gone.  When Jess fell asleep studying, that was a little odd.  The dream was horrible, and yet, she felt somewhat detached from it.Waking up to find someone in her apartment staring at her, now that?  That was creepy.





	Every Claim You Stake

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Bad Things Happen Bingo  
> Square: I Have You Now, My Pretty
> 
> Written for Heaven and Hell Bingo  
> Square: Prince of Hell
> 
> Written for SPN Rare Ships Bingo  
> Square: Azazel

This had to be a nightmare. All Jess had to do was wake up, and then she wouldn’t be bleeding anymore. Wouldn’t be burning anymore. Wouldn’t be pinned to the ceiling watching Sam watch her die. After all, no one could survive as long as she had with her belly slit open, while on fire. Gravity wouldn’t let her get on the ceiling like this, let alone stay. When she woke up, this might make a kickass painting, so she let her mind focus on the details of it. Red staining the middle of the white nightgown she only wore on nights when Sam wouldn’t be there, and the way it was plastered to her instead of hanging down like it should have been. Her hair fanned out around her head instead of in her face. Her left leg twisted at an unnatural angle at the knee.

She sat up with a gasp, unslumping from her space-as-art homework. The class was interesting, learning about how science and art worked hand in hand to bring the cosmos to the realm of human understanding, and she couldn’t believe she’d fallen asleep doing her reading for that class of all classes. Nothing to do about it now. She took a couple deep breaths, straightened out her notes so that when she came back she’d be ready to work, and got up to get a sketchpad.

And walked straight into a strange man in her apartment. Crap. Sam had the gun he didn’t think Jess knew about, not that Jess would’ve been able to get to it. How long had he been standing here watching her sleep? What had he done while she was asleep? Nothing felt weird, none of her clothes felt out of place, but even if all he did was stare, she was still incredibly creeped out.

A closer look at him had her stepping back toward her desk. His eyes creeped her out. That shade of yellow could not be natural. “Who are you? What do you want?”

“I’m your boyfriend’s worst nightmare,” he said, stepping in close again. He reached up to pet her hair. “He’s got such good taste. You’re perfect.”

“Don’t touch me. Stay back. I will defend myself.” Jess reached behind her, trying to remember if there was any better weapon than a pencil out. If there was, she couldn’t find it without being obvious, so she grabbed the pencil. It was nice and sharp, at least. If she could get it into one of those creepy yellow eyes, it would probably buy her time to run upstairs to Luis’s.

The man chuckled. “Spirit, too. Maybe there is a chance I don’t have to kill you after all. Tell me, what do you know about your dear Sammy’s upbringing?”

“Dead mom, alcoholic dad, older brother he used to worship until he chose their dad over him. Never stayed in one place very long, his dad was a great mechanic but couldn’t keep a job because of the alcohol, he got out but had to cut himself off from everything to do it.” She wasn’t going to question how he knew Sam’s name. She probably didn’t want to know.

“So much hiding,” the man said, shaking his head. “I suppose he didn’t give you much detail about how his mother died?”

“There was a fire, she was trapped and couldn’t get out. His dad tried but no one could save her.”

“I wonder if he even knows more than that, he was just a baby,” the man mused. He grinned at Jess. “The truth is she was dead long before the house started burning, it was just taking her a while to realize it. You see, she interrupted me when I was busy making Sam into a very special child. I’d hoped to let her live, she would have noticed how special he was and her hunting background would have kicked in so he’d be trained and ready when the time came. John did his best, but Mary had resources he never knew anything about. But she tried to stop me, so I had to take her out. Such a waste. She was beautiful, and full of spirit. A lot like you.” He reached up to pet her hair again. “Such pretty blonde curls… but she had to die. So I cut her open, threw her up to the ceiling, and set her on fire.” He paused, letting that sink in. “Sound familiar?”

Her dream. Was that actually her up there, or was she seeing Sam’s mother? Jess clenched the pencil tighter, although she no longer believed it would do anything. Whoever this man was… whatever this thing was… he was either in serious need of mental health treatment, or he wasn’t human. “What are you?”

“Ah, now you’re starting to ask the right questions!” He grinned at her. “I’m a demon. Prince of Hell, actually, but that’s not important. And now, I suppose, you’d like to know why I’m here?”

“I’m not making any kind of deal with you. If that’s what you’re here for, you’ll have to kill me.”

“Oh, come now, I’m not here to get you to sell me your soul or any tawdry nonsense like that. I’m a Prince of Hell, not a jumped-up crossroads demon with no imagination.” He put his hands on her waist. “Here’s the deal I came to make: you pass along a message to dear Sammy, and I don’t kill you to get what I need the hard way. You really won’t pass a message along to save your life?”

There had to be some kind of trick to this. Still, it probably couldn’t hurt to hear him out. “What’s the message? If you’re just going to kill me if I don’t get it to Sam, no harm in telling me, right?”

“Of course not. The message is this: it’s time for him to get out of his fantasy world and back out on the road hunting. He’s been riding the pine too long, I need him back in the game. He’s my favorite, you know. Tell him he can either get back into the life, or he can watch you die the same way his mother did. I’m betting he reacts the exact same way his father did, except that he has a better foundation to get started.”

“Hunting? What, like deer?” Jess’s head swam as she tried to make sense of this. Why would a demon care about that kind of hunting? But what else could he mean?

“No, no. Much more dangerous. The things Sammy hunts, and his family, they’re much more dangerous. Ghosts, werewolves, skinchangers. The bedtime stories mommy and daddy told you about things that go bump in the night, they’re all based on real things.”

The pencil clattered to the ground. This couldn’t be real. She hadn’t actually woken up. “That’s not possible. They’re stories to scare kids.”

Next thing Jess knew, she was on fire. The demon had let go of her, at least, but now she was on fire – except that she wasn’t burning. “You accepted that I’m a demon quickly enough. Demons lie, but they’ll tell the truth, too. When the truth will mess you up more, or when they want something from you that means they need to. I’m telling you the truth. If you don’t believe me, ask Sammy when he gets back tonight. He and his brother are hunting a Woman in White.”

“No, they’re not, they’re…”

The demon waved a hand, dousing the flames on Jess. “They went looking for their father, but discovered that he’d skipped town and left a case unsolved. They’re gonna solve the case today, and come on back here so Sam can get to his interview tomorrow. Which one way or another he’s not going to, but he doesn’t know that yet.”

Jess shook her head. She didn’t want to believe this. She didn’t want any of this, but she could not find any other explanation. The story hung together too well. If Sam confirmed that there was a hunt, she’d believe fully. And if she believed… “I’ll pass along your message.”

“Good girl.” The demon reached out, petting her hair one last time before he left.


End file.
